Editor’s Note: This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out we updated this article for 2019. This is our fifth time ranking the worst places to live in New Jersey.

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Everybody in the Northeast (who isn’t from Jersey) thinks of the state as the armpit of the region; a land mainly comprised of highways, landfills, and factory fumes. Also, as the state that raised the cast of Jersey Shore.

But aside from being the region’s favorite running joke, New Jersey has plenty of lovely places to live. Just not the places you’ll be seeing on this list.

We’ve looked at the numbers to finally determine which cities in New Jersey contribute the most to the state’s bad name (which, incidentally, may be the best places to visit if you want to see why so many in the Northeast ride on the NJ hate-train).

What? Where are these places you wonder? And before you get all riled up and say we’re picking on small town America, that’s not the case.

We understand there’s a lot of good in every place.

However, according to data (which doesn’t measure things like beauty and ‘friendly people’), there are far better options in the state for making a place home. And the worst place to live in New Jersey? That would be Newark.

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and see how your city fared in 2019.

We broke crime down into violent crime and property crime to give violent crime a larger weight — if you did a simple calculation of all crimes per capita, property crimes are normally 7x more common and really bias that ranking.

Furthermore, only cities with at least 5,000 people were considered — leaving 175 cities.

We then ranked each city from 1 to 175 for all the criteria with a #1 ranking being the worst for the particular criteria.

Next, we averaged the rankings into one “Worst Place To Live Score”.

Finally, we ranked every city on the “Worst Place To Live Score” with the lowest score being the worst city in New Jersey — Newark. Read on for a detailed look at the 10 worst cities in New Jersey.

This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased.

As the largest city in New Jersey, Newark proves that old adage that bigger isn’t always better (in this case, it’s the 1st worst im New Jersey).

The median household income in Newark is the 4th lowest on this list at $34,826.

Add that to a crime index in the worst 5% of all places in New Jersey and an unemployment rate that’s nearly double the national average, and it’s not a stretch to say Newark truly is part of the armpit of America.

With the 3rd lowest median income, the 8th worst crime index, AND the 10th worst unemployment rate on this list, it’s not surprising that Bridgeton is the highest on this list.

Being in the top 35% in New Jersey as far as commute times goes helps, but one wonders if commuting further away from the worst place in New Jersey might actually make a Bridgeton resident’s day a bit better.

If you live in New Jersey, you may or may not be surprised that Vineland ranked, at least on paper, as the 4th worst place to live in the state. It has the 42nd highest unemployment rate in the state, and the 10th most dangerous.

Incidentally, Vineland is the 6th most densely populated city in New Jersey. Draw your own conclusions.

Would you believe that Millville is the 3rd most dangerous place in New Jersey? That’s the case, as every year, you have a 1 in 18.2 chance of being the victim of a property crime when you’re within Millville city limits.

In addition, every year, you have a 1 in 176 chance of being a victim of a violent crime in Millville. That means raped, attacked or killed. Again, for New Jersey, that’s just unacceptable.

Beyond the crime numbers, Millville’s unemployment rate is the 12th highest in New Jersey (11.2%), and homes are the 9th cheapest in the state ($156,900). Say what you want about ‘cheap living’, the fact is homes are priced on demand, and there’s not a lot of demand to live in Millville.

Years ago, someone told me the sun never shines in Plainfield. That’s not true, of course, but you can understand why she might say that when you analyze certain facts about Plainfield. Of the 175 cities considered in this ranking, Plainfield had the least to be proud of across the board.

Not only does Plainfield have New Jersey’s 37th lowest home value rank, but it also had the 36th and 27th highest rankings in unemployment and crime respectively. Statistics like that will certainly make the sun shine a bit dimmer, and it will win you are in contention for title of “Worst City in New Jersey.”

If you know anyone in Plainfield, tag them on Facebook and tell them you love them. They can probably use it right about now.

When you’re looking at science and data, the city of Long Branch is the 7th worst place you can live in the state of New Jersey. Let’s see why.

You may be surprised to hear that the crime here is the 19th-highest in the state per capita, according to the FBI data base.

Residents in Long Branch had a 1 in 36.7 chance of being robbed in 2016. To put things into perspective, since the average person has 300 friends on Facebook, if everyone you friended lived in Long Branch, statistically, 25 of them would have been the victim of a property crime, meaning a home robbery, car break in or a stolen wallet.

Long Branch’s other issues are a very high unemployment rate (8.6%) and income levels of its residents ($54,398).

Camden is one of the poorest cities in the state of New Jersey. This city has 14.0% of its residents out of work, and those who have jobs earn under $26,105 a year.

Cities can be charming, but not when they are dangerous. Camden has the 7th highest crime rate in New Jersey. While the numbers aren’t staggering (New Jersey is a relatively safe place when you compare it to the rest of the country), it’s still undesirable when you consider that there are far safer (and more stimulating) places to make your home in the Garden State.

East Orange, where there’s absolutely nothing to do unless you enjoy bowling, ranks as the 9th worst city in New Jersey.

Besides the lack of pure amenities, East Orange has some real economic problems to contend with. The unemployment rate hovers near 15.1%, and families earn around $41,819 a year. It’s also the 36th highest in New Jersey for crime, where 1 in 61.5 people gets robbed every year.

Does living in a place where people who come to visit are robbed sound like fun?

If you live in Pine Hill, this might not be a surprise, but you have the 30th highest crime rate, per capita in the state of New Jersey. Every year you spend here, you have a 1 in 42.2 chance of being the victim of a property crime like a car break in or home invasion robbery.

That’s a lot of stolen cell phones, laptops and black license plates.

Plus there were 32 violent crimes in the last FBI reporting year. That means if you spent a year there, you’d have a 1 in 328 chance of being raped or attacked.

Finally, the folks who live here earn the 24th lowest salaries in New Jersey At $51,286 a household, that’s simply not enough to get by for most folks.

Wrapping Up The Worst In New Jersey

If you’re looking at areas in New Jersey with the worst economic situations, where there’s higher than average crime, and not a lot to do, this is an accurate list.

And in the end, Newark ranks as the worst city to live in New Jersey for 2019.

If you’re curious enough, here are the best cities to live in New Jersey:

Having lived in West New York for thirty years and having worked in Union City for many of those, I certainly can’t argue with this assessment. Overpopulation is one of many problems plaguing the area. There is also so much corruption. I left many years ago and was so happy to do so.

I am not even sure where to begin with this list …. Clearly you haven’t been to the towns you’ve list and haven’t done any actual research but simply going off someone else “statistics”… If anything you sound like someone who calls himself a Chef, voicing his amazing culinary skill but has never tasted his own food… In other words …Ridiculous and an unreliable source…. Hopefully in the near future you can take the time to do some actual investigation work on the topic your writing about ….

This article is satire and the person who wrote the article has no idea what the hell he is talking about. The fact that he used “stuff to do” as a static, plus the fact that Camden is not on the list AT ALL proves my point. Unbiased my ass.

I have to strongly disagree with your list. No way WNY, Guttenberg and UC are worse places to live in than JC, Paterson, Camden, Atlantic City, and many other cities in NJ. Their educational districts are much better than whatever stats you came up with. You have many foreigners taking tests, and the tests are not reflective of the successful integration of so many nationalities.

This is no report. It’s totally ludicrous, rediculous and ambiguous. Look at that beautiful picture of WNY. And the meltingpot of all kinds of people that actually say, “Good morning”, “Thank you”, etc.
How condescending to compare a tv show to the Real People of New Jersey who never to a NY minute to rush to the aide of the many victims of 9/11, Sandy or anything else coming their way!
How dare you! You should be ashamed of yourself!
And that’s all I have to say about that!

I do not believe that about Madison park . It is a devopment not a town and the picture is Sayreville. Maybe who ever wrote this should know what they are talking about. All facts wrong, the writer that wrote this is sadly mistaken and a letter of apology should be posted on facebook

When I read your article it bothered me so much. I grew up in WNY and I could tell you we had everything you wanted and needed to prepare you for the world. Not to many places you can go and have New York City as your backdrop as you played basketball in the park or I can never remember not having a friend to hang out with, still today many of my friends are my childhood friends. We had everything we needed nearby, from movie theaters, Bergenline Ave with over 100 blocks of stores, we also had every sport you can imagine, plus the Meadowlands and we did not only watch them, we played them as well and of course we had the greatest city in the world in our door step, we did not only stay in WNY we were near everything. By the way all of New Jersey weather is crappy, so that puts the entire state on the list and as far as income we had again New York City to tap into if we wanted. No town is perfect, but WNY made me who I am today a father of 4 kids, Married 27 years to my WNY High School sweatheart, graduate from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a successful entrepreneur. I will always carry WNY in my heart !

I would drive into and walk around parts of Newark. I wouldn’t set foot in Patterson without a strong guy with me. The cops wait am hour to go to a crime scene to make sure the idiots are done shooting. They send a three cop cars..1 to respond, 2 for backup, 3 to watch the cop cars so they aren’t stolen. Camden as well. I won’t go without my body guard. I am not being racist. . it’s just a mess and unsafe.

Jersey City is in the middle of Iraq including BAYONNE. If i had the money to buy these 2 cities including newark i will sell them to iraq.they’re really bad to raised kid’s really not safe for anyone.

This is opinionated not factual. Yes cities like Newark, Irvington, and Orange are high crime areas! Why! When the necessities needed for basic survival are denied, chaos happens. I lived in two of these cities and know first hand the difficulty of finding employment there. The majority of jobs are doled out to outsiders, inside and outside the state solely because the residents there aren’t provided with services and resources that would provide productivity. There are plenty here qualified to perform the same tasks as the outsiders but are denied solely because they are residents of the cities in question, deemed the same as the rest. It doesn’t matter the skin color, just saying you are from these places raises brows and cast a shadow
of doubt not just for employment but residency, visitation and everything-else. Most places has their problem sector but these mentioned as the worst for high crime (on and off the list) are prejudged. Many may say no to this but those saying no aren’t from there. Given the chance to improve surely would give us the opportunity to seek better but this too is not wanted by most. Nay sayers may be disagreeing with this list but many don’t and won’t let them out no matter their qualifications, standards and desire for
change.

I agree that our towns were sht sometimes sht holes, but the claim that they are ranked by a criteria shows that you know nothing about New Jersey. Union City, West New York and Newark have great commuting. Newark has a Pen Station for goodness sake. They put the Red Bulls and Devils in Newark because of the ease of transportation. Union City and West New York have pretty good education systems considering the dense population. And if we are ranking by crime, poverty, and high unemployment, where the hell is Camden, Atlantic City, and Trenton?

This list is absolutely right on.. My parents bought a house in WNY in 1982 .. I graduated from memorial in ’85 it was an incredibly lovely town where everyone knew each other shopping and restaurants were amazing . There was a sense of safety . After 33 years I’m sad to say it’s definitely time to go .. There isn’t a restaurant worth going to ,every store is a .99 cent , if u get home past 7:30 good luck finding a parking . When u actually see the decline of what was once a beautiful suburban town its a damn shame and I don’t appreciate people trying to paint it any better than the dispicable overpopulated mess it is now

This list is ridiculous. West New York, Union City and Guttenberg made the list but not Jersey City, Camden, Patterson, or Atlantic City?!?!? AND you said the cast of the Jersey shore came from New Jersey when most of them were born in New York? I know internet articles generally have low standards but this is horrific.

You’re obviously not from Jersey and you obviously don’t know how to research very well Mr. Zane.

Madison Park is a development not a city. The picture shown isn’t Madison Park. Madison Park is a part of Old Bridge. I’ve lived here mist of my life. I don’t hear about all this crime. Again check your info. Madison Park isn’t a city.

There are few things that will convince me that the area of West New York, Union City, and Guttenberg aren’t a giant lump of excrement that I’d never live in again. Seriously, it’s all one area, really. Bad driving, high crime, cockroaches, and just a terrible place. the area gets better when you start going through North Bergen and is gone by the time you get to Cliffside Park. We can also agree that Newark and Irvington are a cesspool of corruption, crime, and drugs. Those are the obvious choices and the author is not wrong in bringing these aboard to his article.

HOWEVER, he missed a whole bunch that are truly horrific cities. Has the writer ever been to Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside, Lakewood, Neptune, or Fairview? Those are terrible places, too. Or how about Camden? It’s like a war zone. Drive through Lakewood on your way down to LBI on Route 9 and you’ll find a city that is dying of neglect. Lakewood is growing, but if you put cancer in a healthy body, it will grow, too.

No, there are bad places to live in New Jersey. The author found some of the more obvious ones and neglected some of the worst. After all Camden has been on the book of lists as one of the worst places to live in the country since they started writing them.

Bergen County is a bad place to live and so is Camden County not just Camden. A so-called famous woman who said whe was abused in Camden when she was 10 moved with her family to nearby Cherry Hill said it was “like being abducted by aliens and taken to a penal colony” and I’d agree. Bergen County is about as bad and a lot of the local and County governments there are even worse. Lots of ‘worst in the world’ things there from no buying on Sunday to crime and corruption to being treated as poorly and dangerous as Camden County and if you say anything they’ll get mean and may try to hurt you and your kids. Fbi even talked to high school kids in Bergen County because ISIS was sending video messages to the children there – what a terrible place. Lookup “FBI forums focus on ISIS recruitment threat in N.J. ” in May 2016 and “FBI Speaks To Bergen County High School Students About ISIS Recruitment Threat”. Bergen County government is so bad and a lot of people there so mean and harmful to their own children ISIS targets their kids! Lots of racism and even disgraceful eugenics from all races to the the others there and it is supported and encouraged by the criminal justice system and police, not the way to handle a diverse and crowded population. Gets my vote for worst place to live and place to be most avoided in the US.

This list is so inaccurate…Guttenberg & WNY are densely populated & not the best choice of a place to live…but I know many people who love it there. So many great restaurants in the area, easy & close access to the city & I never experienced any danger or crime of any kind.
There are parks, dog runs & so much to do. What about the tons of desolate, depressing, awful towns in South Jersey… There’s plenty he could’ve added to the list. I don’t think this person really knows anything about New Jersey because he left out so many worse towns…Camden, Paterson, East Orange, etc…

The author of this article is out of touch with reality. Union City is a great area!!! The mayor has taken great strides to beautify the neighborhood and that has given a new sense of pride for the people that live here. People say hello to you on the street. Everything is at your finger tips as far as shopping, restaurants, etc. Let’s also not forget that the commute to Manhattan is only 15 minutes. We have lived here for a year now and stand by the fact that it was a great investment. People are rapidly buying into this area because they see the upward trend of the area. YES it’s Jersey, but get over it! LOVE Union City!!!

SOME of the worst streets are in Paterson, comparable to Camden & Newark (1990s). Those 2 towns are greatly improving, Trenton & (even) Irvington are worse than Newark overall, though, Irvington may not be rated as high as Newark on a crime list. Jersey City is barely better than Newark but may be getting worse again crime-wise. This, basically, applies to what means the ‘worst’ towns given various factors for N.J. cities.

I would like to invite to visit Paulsboro, NJ. I do not agree with your data, since i also serve on the governing body of the borough of Paulsboro.

I would like to do a conference call with our administrative team to review your data. Paulsboro is a safe and clean town, a classic American blue collar town with a rich tradition going back to the early days of our country.

You may state that this is based on numbers and not other things that make a city. But most people are not going to read that they just look at you list and take it at face value. You do know Bridgeton is the largest historic area in the state, that it has a free public zoo, lush parks, and lakes. Why don’t you check out the Bridgeton Main Street Association Website. In fact instead of looking at numbers I would suggest you attend our Cinco De Mayo celebration, as far as I know in 2017 no arrests or crime at the event, or the Crab Fest in September. How bout the Holiday House Tour, that one you all should really see in person before making list like this and publishing them on the internet. I really think you should tour a place before you go and throw even more negative light on a community that has good people in it trying to bring it back to the glory it was before all the industry left. Also very interesting how most of the cities on the list are in South Jersey and have been dying slowly because of the high taxes in the state that are a result of the Northern population and heavily leaning Democratic voting.

I’ve lived in Union City most of my life and yes, the area has deteriorated somewhat due to lower incomes and the economic downfall of NJ but I still love it here. It has a low crime rate, NYC is around the corner, Hoboken is down the street, everything you need is close. The Meadowlands, theatres, malls and it’s a hard working community for those who can find jobs. There are much, much worse cities you wouldn’t set foot in not mentioned here. So, yes, more research needs to be ✔.

Bergen County with Hackensack, Englewood, Tenafly, Cresskill, Bergenfield, Teaneck and many others is the worst place to live in the US with corruption stealing children, torturing kids in schools (Also Camden County), attacking anyone complaining about the Apartheid schools hurting children, they literally come to your home, attack wife and children while away, break in and steal kids and make them sick with horrible drugs and if you fight they use the Political Abuse of Psychiatry to destroy the best people in town – Look it up. Nowhere is the world-leading corruption, terror and torture worse than in Bergen County New Jersey and now that corruption moved from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office as the most corrupt and dangerous and killer in the world to running the State of New Jersey Attorney General’s Office the only way to make the worst most hated corrupt state in the country and world even worse. Working with federal complaints to stop the domestic terror and horrific child trafficking terror of the State of New Jersey – Join the Fight! No child or person or family is safe in Bergen County New Jersey and it isn’t the only one.